Darrin looks to you, as the others depart, and says softly, "So.
How crazy are we? What kind of area do you want to find. High
ground, behind rocks... somewhere near Waterdeep," he trails off
with a nervous laugh. "I never thought there were this many."
As he finishes, he urges his horse forward and to the right of
the large group ahead of you. You have two hours till sundown.
Zantorax looks at Darrin only a moment before replying. "I suggest we see
how far ahead of these orcs we can get first. Once we reach to quarry, then
we'll decide on a hiding place. I would like to be hidden and off to one
side, since I'd rather not get caught between a bunch of orcs and a hard
place." Zant then spurs his mount off of the path and out of view of the
trail. If the orcs are being quiet, Zant moves even further from the path,
so as to keep from being detected by the orcs. Once certain that he and
Darrin will not be detected, Zantorax turns his horse parrellel to the trail
and heads towards the quarry. All the while listenning for signs of trouble,
and for signs that the orcs are setting up camp for the night.
Darrin heartily agrees, and follows you keeping silent as you go.
The Orcs are on foot, and with the amount of them, they are travelling
quite noisily compared to you two. The terrain is a little tougher
so it takes time to overtake the front of the group, and yet you must
still keep undercover, lest they spot you ahead of them.
You come to the Quarry wall, just after the sun goes down, and you
see a trail already cut into the ground, just as the Orcs are making
behind you, only this path is already there as if Orcs travelling the
same way had already worn this path. It leads somewhat smoothly
into the Quarry, while on either side of the path, the Quarry walls
are steep and sheer, with a good fifty foot drop.
Before the Quarry, on either side of the path already made, the land
rises upwards into more of the same Hills you have seen since entering
this region called the Laughing Hollows. There is no greenery, only
rocks jutting out from the hillsides.
Seeing the quarry before him, Zantorax dismounts and leads his horse away
from the quarry and the incoming orcs. With the horse out of harm's way,
Zant loosely tethers it to a tree, then turns to Darrin.
"I don't like the looks of that trail. It's possible that there are
already orcs here. In that case, it's probably safe to assume that they now
occupy the caverns and that we can no longer flee into them. Let's go back
to the quarry, we need to find someplace to hide where we can use
hit-and-run tactics. I've got a few tricks up my sleve. I'll just warn you
now, the fog I'll create tends to have a fair bit of lightning plying
through it, but you don't have to worry about it. If it hits you, the worst
it'll do is cause a slight tingling sensation wherever it hits you. It's
harmless, though. Of course, we don't need the orcs to know that." A chuckle
errupts from Zantorax's lips. "This should be a VERY interesting battle."
Darrin tethers his horse with yours, and listens carefully to all you
have said. When you chuckly, he looks up surprised, but then your
laughter brings a nervous grin to his lips. "Tingling sensation," he
says softly. "Aye... I know of... tingling sensations," he gulps.
"I just think of her, and my lips tingle where her lips touched mine."
He says this glassy eyed, as you make your way back to the previous
Orc path and the Quarry's edge. His pace quickens, and you can feel
the ground rumble, as the Orc's get closer to the Quarry, and suddenly
Tag is grabbing his collar and pulling him back a step or two.
It seemed as if he rose up from the very earth and stone at your feet.
"Traps," he says softly, and points down to where Darrin almost stepped.
Looking more closely, you can see brush thrown loosely together over the
ground, starting there and heading across the Orc path. "Holes, with
sharpened, poisoned sticks at the bottom. This way."
He leads you back about twenty feet from the path, and says softly, "Lucky
to have met. I was just on my way back to prepare the others. I scouted
the oncoming Orcs."
"Where are the others? Are there Orcs here in the Quarry?" Darrin asks
quickly.
"No other Orcs. This group left from here, and are returning along
the same exact path. The others are in the Quarry, awaiting them. I
think Dunz planned to find cover along the path leading into the
Quarry proper.
"I was going to cast a fog over the trapped area, and then hasten back
to the others. We are stretched thin. Where is Maeg, Darrin?"
"Fog... he can cast fog," Darrin says nodding to you. "Can't you."
Upon your agreement to this fact, Tag grins and says, "Good. A good
fog over this area, then. I will head back to the others and tell
them where you are located. I will let things go a little, but then
will cast a spell that should cause the Orcs to fall back in terror,
hopefully right back into the traps a second time, for those that
did not fall the first time through. Now, Maeg, Darrin."
"Maeg... he and Cathil and Daron are going around the other side of
them, and staying to the rear. I don't know his plans. But we are
to hide in the caverns should we get into trouble," Darrin tells him
quickly. But, to get down there, we would need to go right through
the Orcs and down their path. The wall into the Quarry's pretty steep."
Tag scowls, and says softly, "There's spyder rope in your saddlebags, boy.
Fifty foot, light, and not easily seen. Use it. The entrance to the
Dwarven stronghold, is twenty paces from the edge of this Orc path.
You do as Maeg says. Cast your spell, stay as long and do as much damage
as you can... but then get out of danger. There are too many of them.
Good fortune..." he turns to leave, as you begin to see the front runners
of the horde in the distance.
Tag turns around again, and says softly, "I like her Darrin. You have
competition though. She gives excellent massages. Almost as good as
you..." he trails off, and then is gone under cover of the gathering
darkness.
Zantorax gnaws on his fist after Tag's comment about competition, trying
greatly to suppress the laughter forming in his belly. Then, he goes dead calm.
"Let's get hidden and let the traps do their work."
Hopefully followed by Darrin, Zantorax finds a place to conceal himself
from the approaching orcs where he can keep an eye on what is happening all
throughout the quarry.
Darrin is muttering to himself, while you try not to laugh... something
about, "... my job to give massages, or does... no... he wouldn't steal
her from me... no, he wouldn't do that to me... I give the best massages."
All the while, he follows you and when you get set, he gets his axe
ready to hand. It looks strange to see him wield a battle axe, but
then with Varn and Maeg around, you can figure who taught him it's use.
Darrin moves quickly to his horse, and grabs the spyder rope. He
says softly, "I'll toss this over now, and secure it under a rock
or something, just in case we don't have time later."
He peers over the edge, and suddenly jumps startled, "Hey... Zan.
Look, it's Dunz and he's waving at me."
Dunz yells up clearly once he sees Zantorax in sight,
"Zan. Sleep them when they first charge downhill. It will trip, trample and
break their 'coordinated' charge."
"Jeremiah intends to cast two Entangles in front of us and then firebomb
the area."
"Good luck!"
"You, too, " Darrin yells. But his eyes are on Fynvola.
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